I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-03333 on 27 October 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

As previously advised in that answer, the service is expected to be up and running by Spring 2017. I can confirm that the recruitment process for the specialist clinical posts, including relevant neurosurgeons, is currently underway, as is equipment procurement.

I can also confirm that, pending the start of the new service, we continue to ensure that everyone in Scotland who is considered clinically suitable for Deep Brain Stimulation has access to it.

The Care Inspectorate, on behalf of Scottish Ministers, operates a formal complaints procedure for anyone who is unhappy about a registered care service. This procedure explains people's right to receipt of high quality services and what steps they can take if they feel this is not being met. Details of how people can register a complaint is well publicised on the Care Inspectorate's website.http://www.careinspectorate.com/images/documents/82/Procedure%20for%20handling%20complaints%20-%20Jul%2014.pdf

Additionally National Care Standards stipulate that service providers must make available to service users and their families details of their complaint handling procedures. This information is provided to everyone receiving a registered care service and ensures they are fully familiar with their rights and expectations from the outset.

Together these easily accessible information ensures service users are made aware of what to do should they wish to complain about a care service, or challenge the findings of any such investigations.

Each of the Health and Social Care Partnerships will publish an annual Performance Report for 2016-17 by the end of July 2017. These reports will set out an assessment of performance in relation to the National Health and Wellbeing Outcomes, which focus on the experiences and quality of services for people using those services, carers and their families. The Scottish Government will work closely with Partnerships to learn from the findings of these reports and how this can be shared more widely.

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the services, support and care available to people with hearing loss through its long term strategy ‘See Hear’. Awareness raising and training were identified as one of the recommendations in the strategy. The strategy was jointly endorsed by COSLA and is being implemented through local partnerships. Local leads have been identified to drive progress across priority areas.

Through the Sexual Health and Blood Borne Virus networks, the Scottish Government has regular discussions with Health Protection Scotland, NHS boards and Hepatitis Scotland to help promote best practice and information sharing in relation to identifying people who remain undiagnosed.

Health Protection Scotland collects data on Hepatitis C tests from the West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre, East of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre, Department of Medical Microbiology at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and Ninewells Hospital and Medical School. These specialist laboratories receive positive samples from the 14 Hepatitis C testing laboratories in Scotland in order to carry out PCR testing for confirmation. Negative tests are generally not sent to these specialist laboratories. Therefore, for accuracy, the testing database only includes tests from Boards where there is complete data (negative and positive samples). This means that Hepatitis C test data is only available for prisons within NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Grampian, Lothian and Tayside board areas. Between 2013-2015, 3,964 people were tested for hepatitis C antibody in the prison setting in these four board areas.

No assessment has been made on the impact of local housing allowance changes to investment. The Scottish Government made clear it was concerned about the potential impact, and welcomed the announcement that funding for supported accommodation would be maintained at current levels.

The Scottish Government intends to use devolved funding to ensure that the supported accommodation sector is put onto a secure and sustainable footing. We will work with a broad range of stakeholders to achieve this.

Rents in supported accommodation generally exceed rents in other accommodation types, due to high management and other associated costs.

No assessment has been made on the extent to which rents in supported accommodation may be higher compared to rents for other accommodation. The Scottish Government does not currently collect data on people in supported accommodation, however Scottish Government are currently in the process of implementing a data collection which will provide some data on this.

The UK Government has undertaken a substantial body of research on the provision of supported accommodation across Great Britain which we understand will shortly be published along with a consultation paper. When it is published we will consider this research carefully, and consider whether the Scottish Government needs to undertake further research or analysis.

The Scottish Government meets with housing providers and other stakeholders with an interest in supported accommodation through the temporary accommodation and supported accommodation sub group, which has met since 2013. This group has discussed the plans to extend local housing allowance (LHA) to the social sector, and its members, including Scottish Women’s Aid have been among those groups calling on the UK Government to take a different approach for supported accommodation.

This group last met on 19 September, and discussed the Secretary of State for Work and Pension’s written statement on applying LHA to the social rented sector, and the funding for supported accommodation. The group agreed to meet again shortly after the DWP research and consultation had been published.

This group also consulted with the Scottish Housing Best Value Network (Now known as the Scottish Housing Network) on guidance to support landlords and local authority housing benefit teams in defining supported exempt accommodation for the purpose of ensuring unintended consequences of UK Government welfare reform were avoided and to prepare for any measures to localise support for this sector.

No assessment has been made on the impact of local housing allowance changes to groups of recipients in supported accommodation. The UK Government has undertaken a substantial body of research on the provision of supported accommodation across Great Britain which we understand will shortly be published along with a consultation paper. When it is published we will consider this research carefully, and consider whether the Scottish Government needs to undertake further research or analysis.

The Scottish Government does not currently collect data on people in supported accommodation, however Scottish Government are currently in the process of implementing a data collection which will provide some data on this.